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Nicki Minaj, who is currently one of the wealthiest female rapper in the music industry had her first taste of success with Lil Wayne. Minaj was signed with Wayne's record label, Young Money Entertainment, in 2009 - the same year that Wayne signed Drake.
Over the years, the three rappers have become the top artists of their record label and globally. In July 2023, Nicki's Barbie World debuted at number 7 on Billboard Hot 100, marking her 23rd top 10 hit. With that, Minaj joined Drake and Lil Wayne as the top 3 rappers with the most Billboard top 10 hits.
Nicki Minaj's Barbie World also earned her two nominations at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Lil Wayne performed at Young Money Reunion in 2022
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Nicki Minaj and Drake have been with Lil Wayne's Young Money for 15 years. The trio has collaborated on hits like Only, Bedrock, No Frauds, Seeing Green, and The Big Three. In August 2022, they reunited at October World Weekend in Toronto, where Drake opened with tracks from his album Honestly, Nevermind. Wayne and Nicki Minaj also performed solo sets during the show.
Drake joined Minaj to perform Moments and Up All Night and then performed Every Girl and The Motto with the Lollipop rapper. In the end, they performed their popular hit Bed Rock together.
Wrapping the concert up, Drake gave an emotional speech for Wayne, saying:
"I would go to the ends of the earth for this man. You changed my fucking life and you changed the city forever."
He also called Wayne the "greatest rapper of all time."
Lil Wayne has always spoken highly of Nicki and Drake
While Nicki Minaj and Drake have spoken on multiple occasions about owing their careers to Lil Wayne, he has also reciprocated by praising them.
Lil Wayne was on the I Am Athlete podcast in March 2022, he touched upon the subject of signing Drake to his label, explaining that his decision was cemented when he saw "way more than just potential" in him. He added:
"When Drake’s music was brought to me from the homie Jas, it was about rap. I was like, ‘This dude sound different.’ What I loved about him, he was sounding just as dope as we were. When I say we, I’m talking about the streets and what we came from."
Wayne also shared having told Drizzy in the beginning, "you know how to make that the dopest thing in the world. Don’t stop."
Over a year later, on December 20, 2023, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz were invited to GOAT Talk. When 2 Chainz asked Wayne who was the GOAT Young Money artist, he answered with Nicki Minaj's name.
Minaj's Pink Friday 2 had collaborations with both Drake and Lil Wayne
On December 8, 2023, Nicki Minaj released her fifth studio album - Pink Friday 2 - the follow-up to her debut album from 13 years ago. She first hinted about the album's WIP in the summer of 2020, after which it took her three years to finish the project.
The album, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 album chart, contained 22 tracks, out of which several tracks featured collaborations with other artists. Needle featured Drizzy, while RNB featured Lil Wayne.
Minaj has also announced a world tour accompanying the album, which started in March 2024 and is scheduled to end in October 2024.
